Saturday, March 26, 2011

'20 shot dead by police, snipers' in Syria



(Protesters tore down and burnt the statue of Hafez al-Assad, the late Syrian president, in Deraa)

Witness says 20 people shot dead by security forces in Latakia as protesters attempt to burn Baath Party headquarters.

Al-Jazeera

"Deaths are reported in clashes (??) between Syrian anti-government protesters and security forces in the coastal city of Latakia, where mourners attending a funeral set fire to the local Baath Party building and a police station.

A witness told Al Jazeera that 20 people, including his brother had been shot dead by police. His brother had been shot in the head and taken to hospital, he said. The family had been told he was dead but the body hadn't been released.

According to the witness, police fired indiscriminately and snipers "shot at specific people".

Earlier, two people were reported killed in Latakia, a coastal city, as they tried to set alight the Baath Party headquarters.

There were also witness reports of Syrian security forces firing tear gas on several hundred protesters who staged a silent sit-in near a mosque in the southern city of Daraa......"

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